


Blood Price

by pretzel_logic



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Additional Tags TBA, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Canonical Child Abuse, Dragons hoard what they want, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Shipping tba
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 06:53:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10156709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pretzel_logic/pseuds/pretzel_logic
Summary: Everyone knew you did not make deals with dragons. For dragons were as greedy as they were powerful and even the simplest of favors came with steep costs.





	

Everyone knew you did not make deals with dragons. For dragons were as greedy as they were powerful and even the simplest of favors came with steep costs. 

Leo did not have a choice; not one he could live with if he did not at least try to strike a deal. 

Dad had hurt Lisa. It was an accident and he was instantly sorry, especially since Lisa required a hospital visit and stitches. Leo remembered the first time Dad hurt mom, the first time Dad hurt him. Dad was always sorry the first time. After that, it became easier to hurt them - until it was always their fault he did. Lisa was only seven. She did not deserve to be hurt even once. 

Leo had thought he was enough. Mom was gone, but Leo found time to keep the house clean, and cook, and look after Lisa between jobs and school. It was far from easy, but Leo was managing. Lisa just wanted a damn glass of water; she did not deserve a broken bottle to the shoulder from their drunk dad.

Leo refused to let Lisa get hurt again, not when he had the ability to prevent that.

The dragon lived outside Central in a cave, located in the forest a ways further south down the river that separated Central from Keystone. It was going to take him better part of the day to navigate the distance; even ‘borrowing’ a car would only get him so far. No one wanted to live too close to a dragon. Even the Families and other morally bankrupt entrepreneurs knew messing with a dragon’s territory could be the last, worst mistake they’d ever make. Last person to reside on the outskirts of the forest was a park ranger a decade or two ago. After he’d disappeared, the state decided it was best to close the post since the dragon had proven to be uninterested in human affairs and happy to stick to its forest. Made it easier for everyone to just pretend there was no dragon.

The roads up to the Ranger’s workstation were in rough shape, foliage and pot holes breaking up the asphalt every few feet. Leo was relieved he’d had the foresight to grab a jeep; his crash course in in stick-shift had thankfully been literal crash free. Most city cars would not have been able to manage the trip. 

Leo was not sure what most Ranger workstations looked like. This one was all brick with metal sheeting for roofing. It looked more like a tornado shelter than some professional tree hugger’s office. The inside, once he got rid of the boards barring the door, didn’t do much to change Leo’s perception. At least it looked like a safe place to spend the night if Leo had to and it had what he wanted; a map of the area with markings indicating where the dragon resided. A few more miles south and relatively close to the shoreline of the river. 

Leo was more than a little relieved that it’d be easy to find the dragon’s nest. He was a city boy and he was already dreading the trek. Barely a half hour into walking the final leg to the dragon and he already looked like he lost a fight with mother nature. But Leo knew he was getting closer to the dragon’s nest. He could tell by how quiet nature got and the growing smell of rot the further he walked.

The smell of rotting meat and smoke was thick around the entrance to the cave and even worse once he went inside. The dragon watched him from where it was curled up on its hoard of bones. They weren’t the pristine clean bones you sometimes saw in the movies. No, the dragon’s bones still had bits of flesh on them and were stained brown by dried blood. The dragon was smaller than the movies had led Leo to believe as well. It was maybe the size of a sedan with its wings all folded up tucked close to its body along with its legs and tail. In the dim light from the cave entrance, Leo couldn’t tell what color the dragon’s scales were but they seemed dark and dull.

Leo managed a slight polite bow and then licked his lips nervously. There was no etiquette on how to greet dragons, naturally, but he hardly wanted to run the risk of being rejected because he was rude. Rude people probably got killed and devoured.

“Hello, great dragon of Central,” Leo said after a moment.

The dragon let out an echoing rumble that sounded more like an earthquake than a natural sound made by any creature. It took Leo a few moments to realize it was laughter.

“The human child speaks – and with such manners! My, my, you must want something from me quite desperately,” the dragon spoke, though Leo could hardly see how it was doing it. Not like its face was made to speak any human language. “Well? Speak up, little one. I can’t demand a price without knowing what you wish of me.”

“I need your help to stop my dad from hurting my sister,” Leo said. He was unsure if making eye contact was acceptable to the dragon and settled for staring at the dragon’s claws.

The dragon made a mocking tsk noise before speaking, “That’s hardly a problem you need a dragon to solve. Take your sister away from him or kill him. It’s hardly beyond your means.”

“I _can’t_. That’s why I need your help. If I take her, my dad’ll get the cops on me for kidnapping. If I kill him, the pigs and the Families of Central’ll be after me. If I report him, Lis’ll go into the system and she’s already seven. She might be too old to get adopted and with my record, they’ll never let me take her. I need my dad alive, but unable to hurt her and that’s something you could do,” Leo snapped, walking closer to the dragon as he explained the situation. Yeah, he had plenty of options. He’d thought them through. None of them were good enough.

Leo hardly noticed that he was standing right in front of the dragon until it raised its head to be level with his.

“Oh, I see. That is an interesting request you have and certainly within my power. There is a matter of down payment, however,” the dragon said.

Leo barely dared to breathe or look away. He could hear the dragon moving, but he kept his gaze locked with the creature. It seemed important.

“What do you want?” 

“Hmmm, for a deal like this one, the price is quite high,” the dragon warned as it finally moved its face away to offer Len its right hand palm up. Leo stared at it in surprise; it looked so very human, for all it was covered in scales. The dragon used a claw on its left hand to scratch its palm, practically pitch black blood pouring up from the wound. “Drink,” the dragon commanded.

Len balked at first, but the warning growl and flash of teeth from the dragon had him moving. He cautiously cupped his hands around the dragon’s bleeding hand and lean forward to sip at the blood. It surprised Len how normal the blood tasted, though it was very hot, hotter than Len imagined human blood would be. Len wouldn’t be surprised if the blood burned his mouth, but he did not stop drinking the blood until the dragon withdrew its hand. 

The burning sensation did not fade even as Len swallowed and licked his lips to try and get rid of any traces. It was like a path of warmth from his mouth to his stomach existed and then slowly expanded. Len shivered at the sudden chill the cave seemed to have as his whole body grew warm.

“What- what is your blood doing to me?” Len asked as he shivered and felt like he was moments away from his teeth chattering.

The dragon chuckled. “Don’t worry, the side effects will fade soon enough. Come, child, I’ll keep you warm if you curl up next to me. And when you’re ready, I’ll deal with your father,” it promised as it shifted on its hoard to make room for Len.

Len was too hot and yet too cold to care about the bones as he settled in next to the dragon. It lowered a wing so that Len was encased between its body and wing. The extra insulating warmth had him sighing with relief and feeling unexpectedly tired. His eyelids struggled to remain open.

“Sleep, child; your journey to me must have been exhausting.”

“Leonard, my name is Leonard, and I’m sixteen,” Len grumbled but sleep did sound like a good idea.

The dragon laughed before gently commanding, “Sleep, Leonard.”

Somehow, Len wasn’t entirely sure how, he slept. He probably would have kept on sleeping if the dragon did not pull back its wing and let the cooler air of the cave reach him. Len spooked awake, not remembering where he was for a moment. For a moment, he thought Dad was waking him up for a last minute job or to be a last minute punching bag. Remembering where he was did nothing to calm down his racing heart or slow the adrenaline he could feel spiking through his veins. He’d fallen asleep next to a dragon, on its hoard of bones. Bones that still had rotting flesh on them!

“What the hell?” he gasped as he jumped away from the bones and their owner. 

“It’s time to go,” the dragon said as it brushed past Len and headed for what he assumed was the cave entrance. It had gotten so dark out that Len could barely tell. Stumbling over rocks and bones he could not see, Len did his best to follow.

There was still some light for Len to see by when he got outside, which mean that the sun must have set within the past hour. His internal clock put the time around 6pm, meaning he had spent nearly eight hours sleeping. The dragon had to have done something to make him sleep. Len never rested that well, not even in his own bed when he knew dad wasn’t coming home for the night. Question was, why? How did him sleeping so long benefit the dragon?

The dragon was studying him in return and in the fading light, Len could tell its scales were a greenish gray. Its eyes, by contrast, were a bright amber and almost seemed to glow. 

“You’re too big to carry on my back,” the dragon said as it sat up on its hind legs and spread its arms out much like a bear would. “Grab onto my neck and hold on tight.”

Len stared back at the dragon, unmoving. 

“You’re flying me back home?” Len asked despite the clues to the glaringly obvious.

It tilted its head to eye Len like he was a particularly unappealing rodent. “I can’t just snap my jaws and make it so your father shall never hurt your sister again. My magic, dragon magic, is far more demanding than that. I will need him and your sister to cast the spell you’ve asked of me,” the dragon explained as if speaking to a particularly slow person.

Len felt fear claw at his throat. “You’re not hurting Lisa. You can’t.”

“I will do what is needed to fulfill the favor I owe you! Do not tell me what I can or cannot do child! You came to me, to seek my aid! You knew what you were bargaining with from the beginning and still you chose me,” the dragon roared as it lowered its head so it was inches from Len’s own and bared its fangs at him. Then it seemed to calm itself and moved back to its previous position. “Fortunately for you, I do not need to hurt your sister to complete my task.”

Shakily, Len let out the breath he did not realize he had been holding. When had he fallen to the ground? Not wanting to upset the dragon further, Len picked himself off the ground and wrapped his arms around the dragon’s neck. It wrapped its arms around him to hold him close as it kicked off from the ground. Large leathery wings beat furiously against the air as they climbed higher up into the sky, speeding up as they did. Len leaned away from the dragon to look down, seeing that they were making their way back to Central.

“How do you even know where to go?” Len asked as loudly as he dared, hoping to be heard over the loud flap of wings.

“We have a deal. The magic guides me towards the means to complete my end of it,” the dragon replied testily. Len wisely decided to wait until they weren’t up in the air to ask any more questions. He already pissed it off once; he didn’t want to run the risk of it dropping him if he angered it again.

The flight home went significantly faster than the drive and hike to the dragon had. Without needing to be told, Len opened the garage so the dragon could get inside while he went to go get Lisa. Mrs. Devose was a nice widowed lady that had lost her sons in ‘Nam and loved to dote on Lisa like she was a granddaughter any time Len needed help. There were times Len wished she was their grandmother; she was only a few shades darker than Mom had been and she had the same face, for all that it was rounder to compliment her heavier build. She was not Jewish like Mom had been, though, and that always helped Len remember the bitter reality.

“Leonard! You’re awfully late today? Lisa mentioned that you had detention after school; was it a double?” Mrs. Devose asked kindly as she let him.

Len did his best to put on a sheepish look and fake a smile. “Yeah, sorry about the inconvenience, Mrs. Dev-”

“Nonsense! That girl is an absolute angel. It was no trouble on my part to make sure she had a decent human being watching after her,” she said, quickly dismissing Len’s words. She led him into the kitchen where Lisa was finishing up a dinner. Mrs. Devose must have made it for the two of them.

“Lenny! You’re back!” Lisa yelled as she hopped off her chair and rushed to hug him with her good arm. Len closed his eyes as he held her tight in return. Never again. Dad was never going to hurt her again. The dragon was going to make sure of it. Whatever it had to do, so be it.

“Yeah, time to go home, princess,” Len said as he opened his eyes and smiled at Lisa. 

Of course, it took them some time to get out of Mrs. Devose’s home. She insisted on giving Leonard the leftovers as long as he returned her tupperware. There was also the usual conversation, more somber than usual, about how she wished she could take them in if only she had the means to do so. Len tried not think about it; he knew it’d end with Mrs. Devose dead. Lewis Snart was too possessive of him and Lisa to let it turn out any other way.

Lisa was quiet on the short walk back home. She knew where he’d really gone. Knew what it meant that he came back.

“It’s gonna be okay, Lisa,” Len promised and for once it did not feel like a lie.

Inside the house, the dragon already had Dad pinned to the floor of the living room. A circle surrounded them with arcane letters inscribed around its edges. As the dragon chanted, a glowing ring formed around it with letters rapidly appearing within the ring. Then the ring expanded until it hit Dad. Lewis screamed silently and a second ring of letters branded itself around the dragon and dad’s prone form.

Lisa’s small hand gripped onto Len’s tightly as she turned away from the sight and buried her face in his side. Carefully, Len kept her face hidden as he picked her up - she was getting so heavy, he wouldn’t be able to keep doing this soon - and carried her closer. The dragon paid them no mind as it worked its magic.

There was something about the words the dragon chanted that seemed familiar to Len. Like if he just listened a little longer, a little more carefully, he’d be able to understand them. Shuddering, Len stopped listening. He didn’t want to know. He didn’t like the idea of what knowing might mean.

More rings of magic engraved themselves on the floor until there was nine of them. The dragon seemed to pause in its casting for the first time to lock gazes with Len and beckon him closer. Reluctantly, Len came forward until his feet rested right outside the last and largest circle. The dragon resumed its chanting, one ring after another glowing as they rose up from the floor, rotating slowly. Then the chanting finished and the circles flew at Len- no, at Lisa. The only indication she even noticed the magic hit was a tiny squeak she let out when the spell briefly lit up the room before the entire house went dark once more.

Walking away from their dad, the dragon walked toward Len and Lisa. It looked tired and even its voice sounded worn out. “The spell I done. My end of our deal has been upheld,” it promised.

Len swallowed roughly as he nodded. Hesitantly he asked, “And the price?”

Somehow, the dragon found the energy to let out an earthquake like laugh once more. “You have already begun to pay it, but I cannot guess at what pace. You are always welcomed to visit me and ask questions about it, Leonard.”

Len thought back to how long he slept in the dragon’s cave and how familiar its spell work sounded. He wasn’t sure what his price was, exactly, but he was starting to have suspicions. “Alright. Goodbye for now, then?” he asked. It felt like the time for goodbyes.

“Goodbye for now, my child,” the dragon agreed and slipped out of the house the way it came.

On the floor, Dad managed to sit up and stare at Len in horror.

“What the hell did you do, you stupid boy?” Dad demanded as his fear changed to fury.

“I kept my word!” Len snapped, suddenly done catering to the monster that called himself Len’s father. “You’re _never_ hurting Lisa. Not again. Never should have let you hurt her at all.”

Lewis looked like he was ready to ‘teach Len a lesson’ when he took a moment to remember that a dragon was just here. That Len was more than ready to make deals with a dragon for protection. Protection that could very well mean a swift death by claws and fangs – or worse.

“You’ll regret crossing me, son,” Lewis warned as he walked towards the master bedroom.

Len might one day regret making a deal with a dragon. After all, there was some mysterious price hanging over his head. But he’d never regret crossing Lewis. Lisa was safe and that was all that mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> I asked JQ for a prompt and this fic is the very loose interpretation result.
> 
> Eta: accidentally uploaded this story twice because my internet got glitch. Sorry about that.
> 
> I also turned on Comment Mod for people that wish to leave private reviews.


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